Dutch windmills at risk from climate change
Just in from Reuters: Dutch windmills at risk from climate change
DE BILT, Netherlands, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Windmills, one of the Netherlands’ trademarks, may go idle because of less wind as a result of climate change, Dutch scientists predict.
Technorati Tags: climate change, modeling, The Netherlands, Holland
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The traditional windy climate of northwestern Europe has spurred a rapid growth in windmills, mainly in the Netherlands and Germany, to provide alternative energy.
Dutch windmills, however, saw declining energy production in the past decade because of less wind, Klein Tank said.
“My opinion is that this fluctuation will stabilise in the end but it’s not clear at all how it will change in next 20-30 years,” he said.
“It is one of the most difficult parts and the biggest challenges for scientists — to say something realistic about future storms,” he said.
A panel of scientists that advises the United Nations has projected that world temperatures are likely to rise by 1.4-5.8 Celsius by 2100, triggering more floods, droughts, storms, melting icecaps and driving thousands of species to extinction.
New scenarios about the Dutch climate, due to be published by KNMI early next year, predict a change in atmospheric flows which means more moisture coming from the North Sea in winter and more frequent droughts in summer, Klein Tank said.
Summer rainfall is also likely to become heavier because of rising temperatures, threatening an increase in river levels and floods in the low-lying Netherlands.
I live in the Netherlands and every Dutchman will tell you the weather’s not been right for years. And let there be any doubt:
Scientists say increasing concentration of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide (CO2), from human activity is to blame for global warming.
- DS
